Depending on where you live in the United States, the water you get from your house’s faucets can taste dramatically different than how it tastes in other cities in the country. Some cities’ tap water can have a more metallic and abrasive taste, whereas other states’ tap water can be much smoother and milder. If you live in a city with better water straight from the tap, you may find that replacing any bottled water you might have gotten otherwise with tap water is just as good and the more environmentally sound choice. Do you wonder why the taste of tap water differs from state to state? Also, which cities have the best-tasting tap water? This article will answer these questions as well as inform you on how to improve the taste of your own tap water at home.

Why it Tastes Better

The taste of tap water depending on the region is the result of a number of different factors. Sometimes lead can be detected in a city's water systems. Other times, a city's water system can have a lack of maintenance. Another cause is certain plumbing systems outputting hard water, which is water that contains large amounts of chemicals and minerals such as calcium and magnesium. In this case, hard water can be turned into soft water by the usage of water softener systems, which can both be installed on a wider scale as well as on a home-by-home basis. To simplify the situation, different cities regulate water to different degrees, resulting in the quality of filtration systems differing from city to city. A town with better upkeep in the water systems and filtration systems results in a cleaner, healthier, and better-tasting glass of water. The following is a list of three cities that were rated among the best in tap water production in the United States.

Boston, Massachusetts

The tap water in Boston is considered clean and pure due to its source: the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs. The reservoirs, which are claimed to be pristine, supply the city of Boston with water that is so clean that it requires very little treatment to meet the requirements of safe drinking water by the EPA. Boston water is safe to drink straight from the tap.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The drinking water in Sioux Falls, South Dakota was rated the best tap water by state due to its low number of pollutant potential. The city’s water was detected to have the fewest trace contaminants of any U.S. city’s tap water based on information gathered by the Environmental Protection Agency. This makes the water in Sioux Falls the cleanest water determined in the country in 2017.

Denver, Colorado

Denver, with its main water source being snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains, has a natural, fresh mineral taste in its water. No lead has been detected in the source water supply nor in the treated water supply. The city’s water supply has met all of its regulated mandates and is certified safe and clean even without the need of a filter. Water in Denver, Colorado not only tastes good, but it is also completely safe and healthy to drink, eliminating any need to buy bottled water, saving you money as a result.

How to Make Your Tap Water Taste Better

If you do not live in one of the aforementioned cities, or any city with high-rated tap water, you still have ways to improve the taste of the tap water in your home. As stated before, the bad taste of your water could come from hard water deposits from your water system, which can be improved with an internal water softening system. Additionally, you can buy filtered pitchers that can make your tap water taste better and overall healthier to drink.

If you find yourself buying an excess of plastic water bottles, you may want to consider switching to tap water. By finding the right water, either by living in a city with cleaner water or by filtering it yourself, you will have made a more environmentally-friendly choice.